The Catharsis

Today no gyan I promise.

By now, people who have been reading my blogs know that movies are my catharsis; till about 6 months ago, I used to watch 3-4 movies a week. As I mentioned, from childhood to now, irrespective of the situation (happy or sad), movies are/were my catharsis. Just watched an average Malayalam movie called Trishanku. 

Every Friday, my favorite activity used to be reading all the new movie reviews and picking one or two to watch over the weekend, and then when I liked something, I would unsolicitedly recommend it to the various groups. I haven't been promoting enough movies in recent times. Maybe there haven't been enough movies off-late that have stayed with me, but over the years, there have been many which made me stop, reflect, rave about them, and keep watching them over and over again. I am listing the top 10 movies for my blog and have a long list of 30 that needs further curation. Here I go...

One movie I must have watched countless times has been Hum Aapke Hain Koun

Well...many reasons, When it was released in 1994, I was 22 and I think I fell in love with Madhuri; after almost for about 3 days, I couldn't sleep, and I didn't know what had hit me, and I was seeing Madhuri Dixit everywhere! in 1994 my hormones, Music, Madhuri made me ga ga over this movie. But having watched it as I aged over the last 30 years, I feel the movie speaks to me even more now due to the layering of various relationships it keeps bringing out in every dimension. Everything in this movie is predictable and obvious, and for many, this may appear very filmy. Not for me as another personal dimension is that I fell in love with someone in similar circumstances, and so maybe this has stayed with me these 3 decades. Some amazing songs by SPB make this sugary movie on relationships even sweeter.

The movie I have made my colleagues watch again and again has been Moneyball.

First, this appeals cognitively; Second, it highlights the use of Data and third, which appeals to me more, is the power of instinct in leadership. One scene when Brad Pitt trains his colleague Jonah Hill on how to fire people is classic. (Not Funny). I got 30 of my colleagues in a room and made them watch it in an offsite, and the theme was how to build teams. Each one of us brings something but that may not belong to some of the teams we work or worked with. Some of our bosses bring in or take us out, and MoneyBall offers some of these movements in a convincing way (At work, none of the team changes ever made sense except the ones I made🤩). This is a timeless classic; You will enjoy it even if you don't like sports or baseball, I promise you!

Being a Sridevi fan for the longest time, I just can't forget to mention Kshanakshanam

Besides Sridevi looking as stunning as ever, this movie has the classic song Jamuraatiri Jabilamma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG6fhfHk9zg Maybe it's a little dated or timed out for today's generation, but it had many funny moments and a couple of memorable songs when it had released in 32 years ago. I know I am sounding my age when I am describing my favourite movies which were released decades ago, But I have got something recent for you.

Have you seen?

As the movie says, over time, everything develops. It's a movie to which many will be able to relate, especially people who have fathers (like me) with strong personalities. KodaChrome teaches a thing or two when it comes to judging people too fast and not allowing others the time to see your world. Ever wondered how will you get out of your current team or boss? Or joined somewhere because you had a bad team elsewhere and then figured that things are no better in the new place? Whom would you blame? 

Obviously you, but guess what, that's the truth; if you keep changing employers and teams and still find that you don't belong to them for various reasons, the reason will have to be you na? This movie portrays that with time you will develop an appreciation for everything around you, especially people. We are all weird in our own way, and only when we give the time shall we be able to live with it or see the brighter side of people. Just that we don't have that time (or we think so), or we give up on people on a singular instance or conversation. (Oops! gyan again)

I can list another 100 movies which influenced me (As Good as It Gets, Accident, Thavamaayi Thavamirundhu, Sholay, Njan Prakashan and many more), another day maybe...I'll let you go, My Catharsis is done for the today!

What did you do last weekend, which you can call your Catharsis?